Closure device for collapsible containers and the like



May 22, 1956 R. J. DENGLER CLOSURE DEVICE FOR COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 14. 1953 INVENTOR. EAYMo/vo J- oewva L54 United States Patent CLOSURE DEVICE FOR COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE Raymond J. Dengler, Vallejo, Calif.

Application August 14, 1953, Serial No. 374,339

1 Claim. (Cl. 222-508) This invention relates to closure devices, and more particularly has reference to a device of the type referred to which is particularly well adapted for use as a valve means on a collapsible container, such as one used for holding paste dentifrice, shaving cream, or similar substance.

It is well appreciated that the ordinary closure cap used upon a container of the type referred to above involves the consumption of an excessive amount of time during the application or removal thereof. Further, the application or removal of a conventional closure cap, which is usually internally threaded to match threads provided upon the neck of the container involves a number of small but annoying steps. For example, it is necessary in many instances that the cap first be unscrewed, after which the cream or paste is squeezed out of the container. Thereafter, it is generally necessary that the threads of the container neck be cleaned of cream which has been accidentally coated thereupon and finally, the cap is threaded back onto the container neck.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a closing device for tubes of the type referred to which will open the container merely by the exertion of a slight pressure upon a button provided. as a part of the closure device. The button is so located, in this connection, as to be depressible by the thumb of the same hand that is grasping the container for the purpose of exerting a squeezing action thereupon. Therefore, it is a more specific object of the invention to provide a closure device which can be readily operated by the same hand that is used for squeezing the container, without requiring changing in the position of the hand.

Another object of importance is to provide a device of the type referred to which is adapted to automatically close the container, to stop the fiow of the container contents therefrom, responsive to release of the button referred to above.

Still another object is to provide a device of the type stated which will be positive in action, dependable under all circumstances, and will save time as well as elfort so far as the user is concerned.

Still another object is to provide a closure device of the nature referred to which will cut off the flow of the container contents cleanly, will operate easily, and will positively prevent the flow of the container contents at all times when the button is not depressed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the nature referred to in which a spring pressure will be employed to normally maintain the device in a container closing position, with the spring being disposed wholly exteriorly of the container so as to be held completely out of contact with the container contents.

A further object of importance is to provide a device as stated which can be manufactured at a minimum of cost, from the same materials as that used in manufacture of the containers themselves.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a container equipped with a closure device formed in accordance with the present invention, a portion of the container being shown in section so as to expose the interiorly located parts of the device, the full lines showing the container closing position of the device and the dotted lines showing the opening position thereof;

Figure 2 is a top plan view in which a portion of the container neck has been broken away; and

Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the closure device per se, the container being illustrated in dotted outline.

The reference numeral 1t) has been applied generally in the drawing to designate a container. In this connection, the device is particularly well adapted for use with collapsible containers, used for holding dentifrices, shaving creams, and other paste-like substances. However, the device is not necessarily restricted to such use, and can be used to equal advantage in the dispensing of powders or granular commodities, such as tooth and talcum powders. Nor is it necessary in every instance that the container be of the collapsible type from which the contents are dispensed responsive to the exertion of a squeezing action thereupon, the closure device being usable with rigidly constituted containers if such is desired.

In any event, in the illustrated example a collapsible container has been shown, said container having a collapsible body 12 provided at one end with a relatively rigid, conically shaped portion 14 merging into a neck 16.

The construction of the neck 16 is of importance, and as will be noted from Figure 1, the neck is formed as a dome-like member substantially semispherical in configuration. The neck could have a cylindrical base portion, and as shown in Figure l a short, cylindrically formed base part is provided in the instant example, with the cylindrical base portion merging into the spherically formed end wall of the neck. However, the neck could be formed entirely as a segment of a sphere, and a cylindrical base is not essential in every instance.

At the center of the dome-like, closed end of the neck 16 there is formed a dispensing opening 13, which can be of any desired shape, the circular shape of the dispensing opening being illustrated purely by way of example.

The closure device constituting the present invention includes a closure plate 29, and said plate 28, as shown in Figure 3, is also formed as a spherical segment. The closure plate 20, at diametrically opposite portions thereof, has aligned openings receiving a pivot pin 22, the neck of the container being provided with correspondingly aligned openings through which the ends of said pivot pin extend. In this way, the closure plate is mounted for swingable movement about the axis of the pin 22, between the full and dotted line positions shown in Figure l.

The closure plate 20 is formed to a radius effective to cause the outer surface of the closure plate to be in intimate, wiping contact with the inner surface of the neck 16, through the full area of the closure plate. As a result, leakage past the closure plate through the opening 18 is prevented, when the closure plate is in its normal, closing position shown in Figure 1.

The closure plate 20 can be appropriately considered as having an outwardly bowed end edge 21, and inwardly curved side edges 23, the inwardly curved side 3 edges defining therebetween an elongated tongue 24 (Figure 3). The tongue 24, at its inner end, is integral with the body of the closure plate, and increases progressively in width to merge into side ears 25 in which the pin receiving openings are formed.

It is an important characteristic of the invention that all parts of the closure plate, including the closure plate body, the ears 25, and the tongue 24, are formed as integral portions of the same spherical segment, with the segment having as its center the pivot pin 22. Further, the curvature of the spherical segment of which the neck 16 is formed also has as its center the pivot pin 22.

By reason of this arrangement, the closure plate can be swung about the axis of the pivot pin, while remaining in full contact throughout its area with the inner surface of the spherically shaped end wall of the neck 16.

Formed in the tongue 24 of the closure plate is a longitudinal, closed slot 26, and extending through said slot is the shank of an operating rod 28. The operating rod 28 has at its inner end an eye 30, the eye 30 being extended about a bight portion 31 defined between the free end edge of the tongue 24 and the adjacent end of the slot 26. The rod 28 is thus pivotally connected to the tongue, so as to permit straight line movement of the rod between the dotted line and full line positions shown in Figure 1, while at the same time allowing arcuate movement of the tongue 24. It is important to note, in this regard, that the pivotal connection between the rod and the tongue is so loose as to permit the straight line movement of the rod during the arcuate movement of the tongue, the rod moving along a path which is substantially straight While the closure plate moves through a true arcuate path.

Coiled about the rod 28 is a spring 32, said spring being engaged at one end against the outer surface of the neck 16 and being engaged at its other end against a button 34. The button or knob can be depressed by the thumb of the users hand, and it is important to note that the rod is so angled and the button is so disposed as to conveniently receive the thumb when one grasps the body of the container in a normal manner, preliminary to exerting a squeezing action upon said container body.

In use of the device, the container is grasped in the manner referred to hereinbefore, and the button 34 is depressed against the restraining action of the spring 32. This causes the closure plate to swing to the dotted line position shown in Figure 1, and as a result, the dispensing opening 18 will be exposed, for passage of the container contents therethrough. A slight squeeze is exerted upon the container body, with the button 34 held in a depressed position, to dispense a selected quantity of the contents of the container. As soon as a sufficient amount of the container contents has been dispensed, the button 34 is released, and the spring 32, tending to expand, will immediately shift the rod and closure plate to the full line positions shown in Figure 1, thus closing the container. The flow of the container contents is cut off cleanly, without waste of any portion of said contents.

It will be understood that the container neck 16 could initially be formed separately from the portion 14 of the container, to facilitate assembly of the device.

Thereafter, the neck 16 could be fixedly secured to the container body in any suitable manner.v This, it is believed, is sufliciently obvious as not to require special illustration herein.

As hereinbefore noted, in the objects preceding the description, the device is particularly adapted for use with collapsible containers from which a paste-like substance is to be dispensed. However, the device can be used to equal advantage with wholly rigid containers, from which powdered substances are to be dispensed, the closure means acting in the same manner as hereinbefore described regardless of the particular nature of the container. However, while the closure means will act efiiciently with a rigidly constituted container, it nevertheless is considered to be novelly and especially capable of usage with a collapsible container, reference here being bad to the particular disposition and functional characteristics of the depressible button 34, which is so located as to be depressed by a thumb of the same hand used to grasp and squeeze the container.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a closure device for containers the combination of a container neck including an end wall formed with a single, centrally located dispensing aperture of substantial size in relation to the diameter of the neck, said end wall being formed with a substantially hemispherical inner surface; a closure plate within the neck, said plate being formed from a single piece of material shaped over its entire area as a segment of a single sphere, said plate including a closure plate body adapted to cover said aperture, ears formed upon opposite sides of the body, and a tongue extending from one end of the body, said ears being pivotally connected to diametrically opposite portions of the neck, the pivot axis of the closure plate passing through the center of said sphere, said plate bearing slidably against said inner surface of the end wall and being shiftable thereupon about said pivot axis between a first position in which said body covers the aperture, and a second position in which the body is shifted to one side of the aperture to open the same, all portions of the closure plate, in the aperture-covering position of the body thereof, being disposed in contact with said inner surface; a rod slidably mounted in the neck for movement along a line extending approximately tangentially of said sphere, said rod having one end projecting into the neck and loosely pivotally connected to said tongue, the other end of the rod projecting exteriorly of the neck and being formed with a button depressible by a user to shift the rod inwardly of the neck; and spring means coiled about the rod between the neck and button to normally urge the rod outwardly of the neck.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,264,029 Du Guay Apr. 23, 1918 1,598,055 Compton Aug. 31, 1926 1,654,050 Page Dec. 27, 1927 

